Thoughts From An Artist’s Wife

Second Childhood??

Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” Maybe the trick then is to just not grow up? Dan made the comment one time that doing sculpture is like a second childhood for him. Our son, Josh, quickly responded, “Second childhood? You never grew out of your first childhood!”

The advantage of growing up–or at least growing bigger–is that you get bigger toys to play with. Things like welders, grinders, polishers… and plasma cutters.

Toys that were cool when you were a child are even more cool when they are 5′ tall and made out of stainless steel

Whirleygig

As an adult you can create your own fireworks display whenever you want.

It’s no wonder our nine grandkids love to spend time in Grandpa’s shop. It may seem a little scary to have children in a shop with access to these kinds of tools, but that’s where I come in. As a Grandma, I make safety inspectors look like amateurs. One quick glance at the shop and I can spot any sharp pointy things below 4 feet, any head bumping objects, anything above the temperature of “warm”, or any tools within the reach of curious little hands. But in spite of my OCDness, playing in the shop with Grandpa is a magic time of building and creating art–and building and creating imagination.

Albert Einstein once said (according to the internet), “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” I am constantly amazed at the imagination and the logic that Dan, and many other artists we know, possess. It’s one thing to have the imagination and creativity to come up with an idea. It’s something else to be able to clearly see the process of creation. It’s something else again to have the skill and ability to make it happen. To have all three is truly a gift.

Out of Chaos

George Bernard Shaw said, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.”